Evan Peters has discussed the shocking cliffhanger ending to the latest episode of Mare of Easttown.
The American Horror Story star plays young county detective Colin Zabel on the Sky Atlantic limited series, who is brought on to assist Kate Winslet’s Mare Sheehan as she investigates the murder of a teenage girl.
As the season has unfolded, both Mare and Colin have grown close, with the pair’s professional relationship becoming vaguely romantic.
That all changed in the show’s fifth hour, however. The episode, which is being shown tonight at 9pm on Sky Atlantic, left American viewers reeling after it debuted last night (16 May) on US broadcaster HBO.
Spoiler warning: The following text reveals details about Mare of Easttown’s fifth episode
In the final moments of episode five, Mare and Colin finally encountered the man responsible for kidnapping teenage girls across Easttown. But before they can make an arrest, the pair are ambushed by the man, who proceeds to shoot Colin dead and wound Mare.
Speaking to The New York Times, Peters said that he was “absolutely shocked” by the episode’s ending.
“I bit the bullet, for lack of a better term,” Peters said. “I was absolutely shocked when I read it, and I hoped and kind of knew that the audience would be shocked too, if we did Colin right.”
Peters also said that knowing that Colin would die so shockingly helped him in his preparation for the role.
“I was excited by the idea that that would happen, to craft this whole character and formulate this whole plot so it’s almost like we did it for that moment,” he explained. “It’s this interesting way to develop a character, knowing that he’s going to die in such a way. To me, it felt very real, and it sort of speaks to the danger of being in this line of work.”
Mare of Easttown continues on Mondays at 9pm on Sky Atlantic.
